Parting Words

by Frankie'N (formerly No one and Nobody)

A/N: Hi, readers! If you're new here, I hope you like this little oneshot. If you left a positive review/favorited this before: thank you for your support! I just want to let you know that after— wow would you look at the time— ten years, I've decided to spruce up some of my old oneshots. As much as I would have liked to change the plot, I've left it alone (melodramatic as it may be) as a favor of sorts to my younger self. Fair warning, I wrote this out of complete angsty bitterness after watching a few Kikyo-InuYasha scenes.

And now I present to you the new (and hopefully improved) version of what was once entitled "Her Last Whisper."

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha (surprise, surprise)

XXX

XXX

Inuyasha watched as Kagome carefully slipped the last of her belongings into her bag, her back turned to him. She was oddly quiet, almost… somber, and although he would never admit it— it scared him.

But he pushed the niggling fear that something was terribly, unbearably wrong to the furthest corners of his mind. "What?" he all but snarled at her, voice rising in his disbelief.

She didn't turn around to face him. She didn't stiffen at his words; she didn't even flinch. "I'm going home," she repeated. Soft-spoken, guarded. Almost cold, but even through the strangeness of everything, Kagome remained gentle and warm. There was a sharp ache in his heart at the thought of it, but once more, he chose to ignore it.

"Again?" he demanded instead, impatience providing him with an ounce of comfort in its familiarity. "We don't have time to waste waitin' around for you to finish one of your tests!"

But she said nothing as she continued to arrange her things. This time, though, he didn't miss the way her shoulders tensed at his words. He swallowed thickly as the fear he had fought so hard to push away began to seep back into the forefront of his mind. "Fine," he conceded. "But you'll take forever to come back if you go alone. I'm coming with you."

For a while, his words were met with nothing but silence. But after what felt like an eternity, she clipped her bag shut and turned to him, though her eyes remained downcast. "No. I'm going alone."

The fear was pounding loudly in his ears now; he could barely hear himself over it as he stammered, "W-what are you-"

"I said I'm leaving." She cut in, voice still soft but distinctly final. "And this time, you are not going to follow me."

His eyes searched hers for the words he knew— or rather, hoped she was leaving unsaid. He couldn't quite read the emotions that were swimming there, and instead he tried to reclaim his voice. "Why shouldn't I?" he challenged, even as his heart thudded painfully in his chest.

Kagome's eyes fluttered closed again. She breathed out slowly, shakily, as if to calm herself. "Let me make myself clear." Eyes still closed, she graced him with a small bow. "Good-bye, Inuyasha."

Realization dawned quickly, and his response was immediate. Acting on reflex alone, he grabbed her by the wrist just as she began to retreat from him, careful not to dig his nails into her skin from all that he felt stirring in him. "Wait!" he cried, not bothering to hide the urgency in his voice.

Kagome managed to slip away from his grasp, his shock no doubt aiding her in what would have otherwise been impossible. She shook her head and smiled at him— something he was sure should have meant fondness, if not for the unbridled sorrow that was suddenly, painstakingly clear in her eyes. "Everything will be okay." she assured him, reaching out a hand to gently stroke his cheek, making his heartbeat race faster and pound harder; making this harder for him instead of easier. "You're stronger now. You can defeat him." She looked directly into his eyes and cradled his face in both of her hands. "I know you will."

"Kagome..." he breathed. He felt her hands slide away from his face and wrap themselves around his waist, trapping him in an embrace that he never wanted to escape from. He felt a wetness on his garb, right on the spot where she had buried her face, and he knew she was crying. Before he could even begin to fathom it, he was blinking his own tears away.

As a violent flurry of emotions whirled inside of him, he wondered how she could be so cruel. Holding him like this and looking at him like that and making him feel everything he hadn't wanted to feel and had longed so desperately to feel all over again. It was confusion and fear, oddly combined with something absolutely wonderful and incredible; he felt as though he could have died right there in ecstasy at her touch, and then she was just... she was just going to leave him?

As if she could hear his thoughts, she raised her head to look up at him. She said nothing, but the apology was clear in her eyes, in her smile… and he understood. This was it. This was good-bye.

He swallowed thickly and swept her hair away from her face. She was so beautiful. If she had to leave, if she was tired and she really, truly had to, then he would at least want to remember her this way... beautiful... wonderful...

He couldn't help himself. He pushed forward and gently pressed his lips to hers.

He didn't think it was possible, but his heartbeat raced faster than before; thumped louder and more erratically in his chest. He could sense her forcing every unspoken emotion she felt into that one kiss, and he knew then that he loved her. Perhaps he had always known it, and the thought unlocked a bottomless pit of self-loathing within him. God, he loved her so much, and he had really wanted to kiss her for so very long, hadn't he? He never wanted this moment to end. He wished he could just stay here with his arms wrapped around her, but she was leaving. She was leaving, and... and...

She was the first one to break the kiss. With one last smile, one last look, she turned away from him.

He stopped her again, this time taking her by the shoulders and spinning her around. The words caught somewhere in his throat, but he knew that his intentions must have been written clearly on his face. He knew he was practically begging her with his eyes, but for the first time in his life, he threw away his pride.

She spared him a small, watery smile. "Don't give me that look, it isn't your fault. I just don't... I don't want-" she sighed. "I guess I just can't compete with the dead." She hastily wiped her tears away with a brush of her delicate fingers . "Don't say a word, I know it's pathetic." Her laugh was faint and filled with self-loathing, and it cut him like no blade, no spear, no arrow ever could. He clutched his own chest, feeling it throb with pain as if she had physically wounded him. Was that what she thought? After everything, was that how she thought he saw her?

Was that how he made her feel?

That was the last thing he wanted. He opened his mouth to argue; to let her know how very wrong she was... to tell her how wonderful he thought she was.

But once again, the words escaped him. He stood there dumbly, gaping at her like the fool he'd always pretended not to be, wasting what precious few moments he had left with her until she sighed once more and began to move away from him.

"Kagome!" he pleaded. To his own horror, he felt his eyes burning with unshed tears. And he could feel her, too. He could feel her trembling with the intensity of his anguish and her own grief— but unlike him, she refused to give in to her own emotions. Instead, she expelled a shaky breath, and before breaking free from his grasp and escaping into the depths of the well, she granted him one final embrace. She grabbed a fistful of his clothes and whispered in his ear, burdening him with one last secret to haunt him for the rest of his days.

Three simple, parting words.

And then she was gone.

XXX

XXX

A/N- Fin. A little bit on the melodramatic side, as I said, but I didn't want the edit to stray too far from the original story. Yes, I was definitely feeling some of that good old teen/pre-teen angst after watching one of those episodes where Inuyasha chooses Kikyo over Kagome. Probably felt like he deserved some form of torture/anguish in return, yikes.

Anyway, let me know what you think!